Weydana-3
Every planet in the Weydana system is unique, but Weydana-3 stands out the most from its neighbors. A combination of intense tectonic activity, a punishing atmosphere, and the incessant bombardment of radiation and celestial objects has created a surface inhospitable to most forms of organic life. Solidified lava flows and impact craters cover the southern hemisphere, while the northern hemisphere, struck by a protoplanet 3.5 billion years ago, is the single largest impact crater in the entire system. The blue sands for which Weydana-3 is known cover every inch of it all.
The incessant sandstorms that sweep the planet have buried the sole evidence of the oldest attempt at settlement on Weydana-3: the remains of a colossal, domed polar city. At hundreds of miles in diameter, the city was established by a species that flourished and then went extinct over a billion years ago, and about whom nothing is known and no evidence other than their mechanical constructions survived. The city-state—called “The One State” by its inhabitants—was a totalitarian polity whose government dominated every aspect of its humanoid citizens’ lives, both personal and professional; from state-assigned sexual partners, forcing all citizens to live behind transparent walls, and even regulating the number of jaw motions used to chew food. The citizens of the One State did not exist as a hive mind, but their government treated them as if they did.
The One State’s anti-individual society prospered for a time, as an ultra-efficient educational system taught its citizens to be satisfied with their place in the great machine. As the One State expanded, it began making significant advances on the technology it brought to Weydana-3, especially in the areas of geo-engineering, picotechnology, and psychological warfare. Eventually, their technologists began exploring the use of teleportation spells as a potential power source for the energy-hungry One State, focusing on magic portals and interplanetary teleport spells. One day, something powerful and hostile arrived on Weydana-3 via a rogue portal. The being—which might have been a living apocalypse (Alien Archive 2 80), tzitzimitl (Alien Archive 3 122), or a colossus like those that ravage Daimalko—was eventually terminated by One State security forces, but not before unleashing an infectious psychic disease that rapidly swept throughout the society. Those infected sought violent suicide, and some set off an explosion that destroyed the protective domes surrounding the One State, exposing everyone inside to the deadly atmosphere and radiation.
The blue sands of Weydana-3 have preserved the One State as it was on the day of its destruction; explorers might find the crumbled buildings and domes of the city and the dried and mummified corpses of its citizens, all in pristine condition. Unfortunately, the One State’s numerous mechanical guards are also in pristine condition and remain hostile to interlopers to this day.
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